Yeah if you wanna build a deck for standard it seems like a really cool format right now! Buying singles is always cheaper than buying packs in the long run, and playing sealed & draft will definitely help you build up a collection. I’d definitely check out sites like starcitygames or channelfireball if you want to get like, in-depth on metagames and formats but otherwise you can basically build whatever and have a good time.

Is this something I should do/get back into? Is this something I will even understand or has the meta game gotten to the point where it is not friendly for noobs?

The thing about Magic is, more than any other TCG, I think it lives up to the idea of there being really different ways of playing with the same tools. Competitive Magic might be a bit much to dive right back into, but there’s other ways to play, like the Commander format, that aren’t as expensive or demanding. And doing Limited drafts, where you pay $15 and open the packs for your deck at the event, doesn’t require an extensive collection at all

Not that the lore has ever been any indication, but according to it i should be looking forward to a new Nicol Bolas with Hour of Devastation which is pretty exciting.
I also wonder what they’ll reprint for commander as EDH has been taking up most of my time recently.

I used to be super into magic, driving to all near by PTQs and travelling to grand prixs. I kinda fell out of standard when magic origins came out. Recently put together a UW control deck for modern, it’s been fun diving back in a bit. I initially dropped because of cost, keeping up with standard and playing competitively is expensive as hell. But now days I like modern because I can hold onto one deck for a long time, don’t have to buy that many new cards. Oh and cube is great too! I built a cube a couple of years back and still get to draft it every now and then. Magic is fun.

Pauper is only common cards, and frontier is a new format that I think has been gaining steam in japan. It only includes cards with the new boarder I belive, so everything from Origins on I think. Pauper frontier sounds cool.

How’s everyone liked GP Vegas? I’ve only really watched Modern and it’s been good. Blue Steel is a really sweet deck and I’m sad it didn’t make it farther. That Abzan Midrange vs. Grixis Death’s Shadow game was really really tense, great match.

Kind of disappointed most of the spoilers have been Invocations rather than actual new cards the past few days. Also kind of worried about Grixis Death Shadow as a deck now that it’s even more prevalent than before. It’s more prolific than is ideal but the biggest competitive deck being interactive and skill-intensive is really nice and I hope it doesn’t get axed 5 months from now to shake things up.

The last week has been a big one with lots of announced stuff. I’ve always liked Core Sets, so it’s nice to see them return. The previous two Un-sets were fun too, so it’ll be nice to see what Unstable will bring.

I haven’t really played Magic in quite a while, I mostly use it as a vehicle to think about game design, since it’s a very interesting evolving game.

I’m happy for the return of Core Sets as well, people keep calling them “necessary evils” because the cards aren’t going to be as powerful or as complex, which is weird to me because sometimes it’s nice to just play some simple, cornbread and beans Magic.

Un-sets I’m a little less enthusiastic about. I’ve never actually played one, mind, but I’ve looked at the cards plenty of times and it seems to me like they’re not at all fun to actually play with and are only funny/clever once, and that’s when you read them. But I could just be a self-serious curmugeon, wouldn’t be the first time.